#129 - Human Performance Specialist Brian Mackenzie

The Art of Something

On this week's episode, Harvey has an in-depth conversation with Brian Mackenzie, a human performance specialist and founder of Shift - a sports & fitness instruction company working with high performers all over the world, as well as co-founder/president of Health and Human Performance Foundation.

Harvey and Brian talk heavily about how the psychology and physiology of the body are intimately woven together - keying into the concepts of breath work, performance, meditation, addiction, and awareness. As always, any conversation between Harvey and Brian is a must-listen. Enjoy!

There could not be a better biography for Brian than the explanation given on his website (Link below).

"Brian Mackenzie is an innovator in human performance on stress adaptation and a pioneer in the development and application of custom protocols to optimize human health and performance. His work harnesses and integrates respiratory, movement, strength, conditioning and endurance-based training approaches to elicit unprecedented positive results. His protocols have been used to accelerate and raise both mental and physical performance in world-class Olympic and professional athletes, top executives, and elite military operators, as well as to improve the health for people suffering from various chronic and pathological issues. Brian’s work is voluntarily and repeatedly subjected to rigorous 3rd party scientific testing, re-testing and improvement, at top institutions. He has been contracted and his work involved in research projects at Stanford University School of Medicine, California State University Fullerton, and San Francisco State University. Brian is himself a highly accomplished practitioner. He completed the Ironman (Canada, 2004), completed both the The Western States 100 mile and The Angeles Crest 100 mile runs using adapted training protocols he developed to improve performance. He is the co-founder of The Art of Breath a course he teaches through SH//FT that teaches a principles based approach to breath & performance. Brian has also co-authored the book Power Speed Endurance, The New York Times Best Seller UnBreakable Runner, and UnPlugged, which assesses the integration of emergent technology and human performance. His programs have been featured in Outside Magazine, Men’s Health, Runners World, Triathlete Magazine, Men’s Journal, ESPN Rise, as well as periodicals such as The Economist. Brian and his protocols have been featured in 2 of Timothy Ferriss’ New York Times bestselling books including: “The 4-Hour Body” and “Tools of Titans” and Scott Carney’s New York Times best seller “What Doesn't Kill Us”.

His clients have included: Ari Emanuel, William Morris Endeavor, Sheppard Mullin, Deloitte, Google, Tim Ferriss, U.S. Military (Navy, Army, Marines), Canadian Military (CANSOF), San Quentin State Prison, The UFC Performance Institute, Altis, Jon “Bones” Jones, Laird Hamilton, Tia Clair Toomey (3X CrossFit Games Champion), Rich Froning Jr. (4X CrossFit Games Champion) and many others. Currently, Brian is the Founder & CEO of Power Speed Endurance. He is also the President and Co-Founder of The Health and Human Performance Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to researching how breath and innate tools can optimize and help health and human performance."

Key Insights:

0’ – Introduction

3:52 – Making Training & Living Progressive Intuitively

9:05 – Is Psychology Just Misunderstood Physiology

12:40 – We’re All Addicts

20:05 – Trying To Understand The Global Implications of Breathing & Breath Work

23:50 – Using Tools To Leverage Performance and Adapt

26:05 – We Are Nature

29:30 – How Cultures & People of The Past Listened To Their Environment Differently Than Society Does Today

42:02 – Thoughts Become What Is Happening Through Physiology & Emotion

48:30 – Fighting The “Outside-In” Battle; The Caution of External Tools For Understanding Physiology

53:22 – The Balance of Medicine and Intuition

55:00 – Have We Tapped Into Our Performance Potential?

56:00 – Player Development & Money; A Different Understanding of Addiction

62:47 – The Misstep of Taking In External Feedback

64:50 – Performance Is The Byproduct of What You Learn

67:50 – The Concept of Goals Is To Make Better Decisions

68:30 – The Main Goal of The Nervous System Is To Be Autonomous

72:00 – The Breakdown of Jaw Structure In Humans Through Recent De-Evolution

74:10 – We Either Pass On Genes, Or We Pass On Information

Product Links

MindStrong Membership: Become A Member Here!

Breathing 101 Course: Purchase Breathing 101 Course Here!

Sauna Research Institute: https://www.saunastudies.com/

XEndurance: Buy XEndurance Products Here!

(Use promo code 'MSP25' for 25% off!)

Brian Mackenzie Links:

Websites: https://www.brianmackenzie.com/

https://shiftadapt.com/

https://www.hhp-foundation.org/

Instagram: @_brianmackenzie - @shift_adapt - @hhpfoundation

Twitter: @brianmackenzie